Microsoft to kill off the Messenger client and regroup under the Skype brand

Messenger's infrastructure isn't going away, however.

Microsoft's instant messaging and video chat are set for a major shake-up, with Microsoft announcing today that the Windows Live Messenger brand and client will be retired in the first quarter of 2013. They'll be replaced by the Skype client and Skype name everywhere, except for China, which will retain the Messenger naming.

On the front end, the transition from Messenger to Skype is happening surprisingly quickly. The Skype client added support for Messenger contacts and chat just two weeks ago, when version 6 was released. Within six months, the Skype client will be the only option available for connecting to Messenger contacts.

Behind the scenes, the migration has been underway for some time—in the opposite direction. As reported by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, the instant messaging back-end now uses a mix of Messenger's infrastructure and Azure cloud services.

Though the Skype client now connects to both Skype and Messenger networks (and Facebook too), the networks are at present still separate, and there's no bridging between the two. Messenger users signing in to Skype for the first time have to either merge their account with their own Skype account, or create a new Skype account if they don't have an existing one. Users of the Skype client can see both networks; Messenger clients, whether first- or third-party, will only see Messenger users.

The Skype client itself isn't an exact match for the Messenger client. Popular Messenger features such as "nudge" are absent, with only core IM and video chat functionality maintained. The loss when talking to Messenger contacts is partially offset by the gains when talking to Skype contacts: Skype permits video chatting on Facebook and with mobile clients, screen sharing, and for paying customers also offers calls to landlines and multi-person video chat.

Aslong as it can notify me when i have an email(gives a brief overview of whats in the mail so i can tell in realtime wether i should act on it or ignore it tell later) on the desktop, like windows messenger can then i won't mind. MSN has been dead for years for chatting with my friends. Everyone chats on facebook now.

Don't make the same mistake everyone seams to be doing in the Windows 8 forum. If you log into skype on the Windows 8 app, it auto merges your account to whatever email your using in Windows 8. Skype created the app, but no way to un-merge unless throw it to desktop mode or contact Skype. They removed the delete account option in Skype. This renders the app unusable because it only shows the merged account, unless you start it in desktop mode.I honestly have no idea how they made that programming mistake..

(just clarify, that means I hated messenger with a passion and would routinely rip it out any Window install I came across).

I used to do the same back in the XP days. Messenger was SO intrusive, you couldn't just turn it off, you had to remove it to stop the popups.

Not the same thing. That was Windows Messenger Service, different from Windows Live Messenger, nee MSN Messenger. I still use WLM/MSN for a few people, and basically no other instant messenger network outside of IRC. Since I don't want to use Skype for IMing, I might switch to Pidgin.

Not the same thing. That was Windows Messenger Service, different from Windows Live Messenger, nee MSN Messenger. I still use WLM/MSN for a few people, and basically no other instant messenger network outside of IRC. Since I don't want to use Skype for IMing, I might switch to Pidgin.

Ah, I stand corrected. I've never used any IM service until I started using Skype for video chat, and then my friends started messaging me that way.

I'm not a fan of IM. Either call me or email me. IM doesn't scratch any itch I have.

Not the same thing. That was Windows Messenger Service, different from Windows Live Messenger, nee MSN Messenger. I still use WLM/MSN for a few people, and basically no other instant messenger network outside of IRC. Since I don't want to use Skype for IMing, I might switch to Pidgin.

Ah, I stand corrected. I've never used any IM service until I started using Skype for video chat, and then my friends started messaging me that way.

I'm not a fan of IM. Either call me or email me. IM doesn't scratch any itch I have.

Swap "call me" for "IM me" and we would be the same.

Hate phone calls. I honestly wish I could get away with data only and not deal with the phone at all.

So what happens with 3rd party packages like Pidgin and Trillian when the final transition occurs?

As long as the MSN/WLM protocol and pipes stay up (as the article indicates), probably the same thing that's always happened with MSN and Trillian or Pidgin. Occasional breakage but nothing permanent. What seems to be happening is that IMing through Skype will now go over the MSN wires, so Skype is basically the official MSN client.

I wonder if this is a step forward or back for the number of clients that interoperate with Xbox Kinect video chat. I was thinking the Xbox, being already connected to the living room TV, would be a nice device for family video chats, but the situation on which MS video chat apps can talk to which other ones is fairly confusing.

Skype GUI cannot be worse - it's pure useless POS. Every few months another new GUI and every time even worse than the older one. Casual people are lost in that busy mess. Skype is going down very fast. Try register new account. Microsoft tries to trick you into buying credit - it shows your new account is not yet finished until you buy credit - WTF? It's even possible to go lower than this? Well done MS - still the same crap from you like we are used. Shame.

Not really caring much. Been using google talk for years. Best thing is I can add any jabber users from any network to my gtalk contact list and use any client. Why such a thing is still being segregated in this day and age is beyond me.

I hope they merge the contacts for people who have merged their accounts. I don't want to see the same person twice in my contact list.

it does.. its also one of the defining features of windows phone (on which I have contacts from twitter, gmail, Hotmail, facebook and exchange all merged into single accounts for each duplicate user account)

windows 8, the messenger app and now the Skype app use the same mechanism

This doesn't seem to be too terrible, however I wonder just how much more bloat Skype might become after the merger. Currently it hogs 120 megs+ of RAM per instance (I'm not sure why) and I always need to run multiple instances of Skype. I honestly wish they would clean up Skype to something leaner, less resource hungry.

If they added the cool feature from Windows Live Messenger where you can add your own smileys, that would rock. The skype smileys are near depressing, not as bad as the pidgin/gaim ones tho

Why "except for China" ? Are they so stuck with pirated versions of unpatched Windows XP that they can only run MSN Messenger 7.0 ?

I realise you're probably joking, but surely that would push MS to remove messenger from China first.

And why the hell would pirated XP not be getting updates? The pirated version of XP I used got updates just fine, as did the pirated versions of Vista and 7. I only just got a pirated 8 up and running this week so it'll take a little time before I know if it still gets updates.

The Chinese aren't stupid, why are they so XP-heavy? Pirate a modern OS for fuck's sake!

So what happens with 3rd party packages like Pidgin and Trillian when the final transition occurs?

That's my fear. I love MSN messenger BECAUSE it is an open (or at least reverse engineered) protocol that can be used by multi-protocol programs like pidgin and kopete. I don't want to go back to the old days, where you needed a different program for every messaging service. I already hate Skype as it is primarly for this reason.

Why "except for China" ? Are they so stuck with pirated versions of unpatched Windows XP that they can only run MSN Messenger 7.0 ?

I realise you're probably joking, but surely that would push MS to remove messenger from China first.

And why the hell would pirated XP not be getting updates? The pirated version of XP I used got updates just fine, as did the pirated versions of Vista and 7. I only just got a pirated 8 up and running this week so it'll take a little time before I know if it still gets updates.

The Chinese aren't stupid, why are they so XP-heavy? Pirate a modern OS for fuck's sake!

I agree with hating XP, and also your logic on updates. However, your openness with use of pirated softwarez may not be well received!

I would still like to see some information on why China will continue to be allowed to use Microsoft's soon-to-be-dead Messenger. Or will it just be Skype with the name Windows Live Messenger on the titlebar?

So what happens with 3rd party packages like Pidgin and Trillian when the final transition occurs?

That's my fear. I love MSN messenger BECAUSE it is an open (or at least reverse engineered) protocol that can be used by multi-protocol programs like pidgin and kopete. I don't want to go back to the old days, where you needed a different program for every messaging service. I already hate Skype as it is primarly for this reason.

But they have already integrated compatibility with Facebook and Windows Live. So the only messaging services excluded are AIM and Yahoo, so to use all the services at once, that's why programs like Pidgin exist.